84R11568 DRH-F

By: Lucio S.B. No. 1425

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 1(2), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887) and 927 (H.B. 3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(2) "Economic motor vehicle theft" means motor vehicle [burglary or] theft committed for financial gain.

SECTION 2. Section 1(4), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

(4) "Director" means the executive director of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles [Texas Department of Transportation].

SECTION 3. Sections 5(b), (c), and (d), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The authority shall meet at the call of the presiding officer [chairman] or at the call of four members.

(c) To be eligible to take office as a member of the authority, a person appointed to the authority must complete [at least one course of] a training program that complies with Subsection (d).

(d) The training program required by Subsection (c) must provide information to the person regarding:

(1) the enabling legislation that created the authority [and its policymaking body to which the member is appointed to serve];

(2) the programs operated by the authority;

(3) the role and functions of the authority;

(4) the rules of the authority and the department;

(5) the current budget for the authority;

(6) the results of the most recent formal program audit of the authority;

(7) the requirements of the:

(A) open meetings law, Chapter 551, Government Code;

(B) open records law, Chapter 552, Government Code; and

(C) administrative procedure law, Chapter 2001, Government Code;

(8) the requirements of the conflict-of-interest laws and other laws relating to public officials; and

(9) any applicable ethics policies adopted by the department or the Texas Ethics Commission.

SECTION 4. Sections 6(b), (d), (j), and (k), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The authority may solicit and the department may accept gifts and grants to carry out a purpose or function of the authority.

(d) Not later than April 1 of each year, the authority shall report on its activities to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives. The report must include:

(1) an accounting of all funds received and disbursed by the authority during the previous fiscal year; and

(2) the motor vehicle theft rate for the previous fiscal year as determined by authority rule.

(j) The authority shall:

(1) develop and use standard performance measures for each category of grants provided by the authority in order to assess grantee success in achieving the purposes of this article; and

(2) ensure that grants are used to help reduce the incidence of [increase:

[(A) the recovery rate of stolen motor vehicles;

[(B) the clearance rate of motor vehicle burglaries and thefts; and

[(C) the number of persons arrested for] motor vehicle [burglary and] theft and burglary.

(k) The authority shall allocate grant funds primarily based on where the number of motor vehicle thefts or burglaries [vehicles stolen in,] or the motor vehicle [burglary or] theft or burglary rate is highest in [across,] the state [rather than based on geographic distribution].

SECTION 5. Section 6A, Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 6A. REFUNDS [POWER TO REFUND]. (a) An insurer may request a refund of fees or a determination of the sufficiency of payments of fees collected under Section 10 of this article not later than the second anniversary of the date the fees were paid.

(b) The authority may make determinations regarding the sufficiency of payments made by an ["]insurer[" (as defined under Section 10 of this article)] of fees collected pursuant to Section 10 of this article.

(c) [(b)] Pursuant to such determination, the authority may:

(1) notify the comptroller that payments made by an insurer are sufficient; and

(2) request the comptroller to draw warrants on the funds available to the authority for the purpose of refunding monies to an insurer.

(d) [(c)] The authority shall make the determination under Subsection (c) [(b)] of this section [as follows:

[(1) the two members of the authority who are representatives of insurance companies writing motor vehicle insurance in this state shall recuse themselves;

[(2) the remaining five members of the authority shall make the determination] by a simple majority vote.

(e) [(d)] Determinations made under this section shall be performed in accordance with procedures set forth in rules adopted by the authority. The question of eligibility for a refund is not a contested case within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 2001, Government Code).

SECTION 6. Section 7(a), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The authority shall develop and implement a plan of operation. The plan of operation must be updated biennially and filed with the speaker of the house of representatives and the lieutenant governor [legislature] on or before December 1 of each even-numbered year.

SECTION 7. Section 7(b), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887) and 927 (H.B. 3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(b) The plan of operation must include:

(1) an assessment of the scope of the problems of motor vehicle [burglary or] theft and economic motor vehicle theft, including particular areas of the state where the problems are greatest;

(2) an analysis of various methods of combating the problems of motor vehicle [burglary or] theft and economic motor vehicle theft;

(3) a plan for providing financial support to combat motor vehicle [burglary or] theft and economic motor vehicle theft; and

(4) an estimate of the funds required to implement the plan of operation.

SECTION 8. Section 8(a), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887) and 927 (H.B. 3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(a) Money appropriated to the department for authority purposes shall be used [by the authority] to pay the department for administrative costs and to achieve the purposes of this article, including:

(1) [establishing and funding the motor vehicle registration program required by Section 9 of this article;

[(2)] providing financial support to law enforcement agencies for economic motor vehicle theft enforcement teams;

(2) [(3)] providing financial support to law enforcement agencies, local prosecutors, local governmental entities, judicial agencies, and neighborhood, community, business, and nonprofit organizations for programs designed to reduce the incidence of economic motor vehicle theft;

(3) [(4)] conducting educational programs designed to inform motor vehicle owners of methods of preventing motor vehicle [burglary or] theft;

(4) [(5)] providing equipment, for experimental purposes, to assist motor vehicle owners in preventing motor vehicle [burglary or] theft; and

(5) [(6)] establishing a uniform program to prevent stolen motor vehicles from entering Mexico.

SECTION 9. Sections 8(b) and (c), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:

(b) In any fiscal year, the [amount of the administrative expenses of the authority, including salaries, travel and marketing expenses, and other overhead expenses may not exceed eight percent of the total expenditures of the authority.

[(c) The] cost of personnel, [and] services, and administrative expenses of the authority, including salaries, travel, and marketing and other overhead expenses incurred by the authority or provided to the authority by the department and by the attorney general may be paid only from appropriations made for authority purposes and may not exceed eight percent of those appropriations. Appropriations made for authority purposes may not be used for any other purpose.

SECTION 10. Sections 10(b), (d), and (e), Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:

(b) An insurer shall pay [to the authority] a fee equal to $2 multiplied by the total number of motor vehicle years of insurance for insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed by the insurer. The fee shall be paid not later than:

(1) March 1 of each year for a policy issued, delivered, or renewed from July 1 through December 31 of the previous calendar year; and

(2) August 1 of each year for a policy issued, delivered, or renewed from January 1 through June 30 of that year.

(d) The authority shall notify the Texas Department [State Board] of Insurance of any insurer that fails to pay the fee required by this section, and the Texas Department of Insurance [board] may for that reason revoke the insurer's certificate of authority.

(e) Fifty percent of each fee collected under Subsection (b) may be appropriated only for use by [to] the authority for the purposes of this article.

SECTION 11. The following Sections of Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, are repealed:

(1) Sections 6(i) and 9; and

(2) Section 11, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887) and 927 (H.B. 3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007.

SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.